At The University Church, we celebrate the sacrament of Holy Communion at every worship service and everyone is welcome to participate. In the spirit of inclusiveness, we use nonalcoholic grape juice and not wine, and we make available gluten-free crackers, as well as bread. Participation is not restricted in any way, and everyone, including children, is invited to be part of the sacrament.
The term ‘sacrament’ comes from the Latin, sacramentum, typically used in the sense of a vow or promise, and which was the word commonly employed to translate the Greek term, mysterion. The English word ‘communion’ is a contraction of ‘common union’. From these words we get the sense that communion is something to do with promises made, common union expressed, and a mystery!
Over the centuries, Christians have come to understand communion (or Eucharist or the Lord’s Supper) in many ways. One of the ways of understanding that is helpful to us in the United Methodist tradition is detailed in a booklet entitled, ‘This Holy Mystery’ which can be obtained free of charge as a pdf file here.
If you have questions about communion, please feel free to contact our pastor.